Save This Recipe
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
This Slow Cooker pork and sauerkraut is a three-ingredient dinner that practically makes itself. The pork turns fall-apart tender, the sauerkraut mellows into something cozy and tangy, and the whole thing comes together while you’re out living your life.
Why you’ll love this, or at least why I do
Only 3 ingredients — pork shoulder, sauerkraut, and apple juice. That’s it.
Completely hands-off — ten minutes of prep in the morning, dinner ready when you walk in the door.
Fall-apart tender every time — pork shoulder is a forgiving cut that only gets better the longer it cooks.
Amazing leftovers — the flavor deepens overnight and it reheats beautifully all week.
Crowd-pleasing comfort food — even sauerkraut skeptics come around once they taste it slow-cooked like this.
A little bit about the ingredients
The pork: I use pork shoulder. Sometimes labeled as pork butt, which is the same cut and has always made me laugh a little. It’s fatty and forgiving, which means even if you let it go an extra hour, it’s not going to dry out on you. I’ve tried making this with pork loin and it works okay but it’s a little finicky — you have to watch it more, take it out earlier — and that’s not the energy this recipe is supposed to have. Get the shoulder.
The sauerkraut: I buy it in a bag or a jar from the refrigerated section if I can find it, though I’ve used the canned stuff in a pinch and it’s honestly fine. You want it with the juices — don’t drain it. The juices are part of what makes this work. If your family is suspicious of sauerkraut, you can rinse it to take down the tang a bit. Or use half sauerkraut and half shredded cabbage. I did that for a couple years when the kids were little and nobody knew the difference, or if they did, they didn’t say anything.
The apple juice: Regular apple juice or apple cider, either one. The sweetness balances the sour and keeps the pork from drying out. I’ve used water when I was out of apple juice and it was still good, just… less interesting. Worth keeping a bottle in the pantry for this.
Ingredients
3–4 lb pork shoulder (or pork butt), raw — I usually grab whatever’s close to 3.5 lbs
2 lbs sauerkraut with all its juices — the whole bag or jar, don’t be shy
1 cup apple juice or apple cider (I probably pour a little more than a cup, if I’m honest)
Salt and black pepper — just a little, just to season the pork before it goes in
How to make it
In the morning — and I mean morning, because you want this going on LOW, not HIGH, and LOW takes 8 to 10 hours — you start by spraying the Slow Cooker. You don’t have to, but it makes cleanup easier and I’ve scrubbed enough Slow Cooker crocks to know I’m not above a little cooking spray.
Dump the sauerkraut in first, juices and all. Spread it around. Pour the apple juice over it. Now pat the pork dry with paper towels — this is one of those steps I skipped for years and now I don’t skip it because I think it does actually make a difference in how the outside of the meat turns out, or maybe I just like having a reason to use more paper towels — and hit it with salt and pepper on all sides. Set it right on top of the sauerkraut. Put the lid on. Go to work.
When you get home, the house will smell like something wonderful, and the pork will basically fall apart when you look at it. Transfer it to a cutting board and shred it with two forks. Fish out any big pieces of fat while you’re at it. Put the shredded pork back in with the sauerkraut and stir everything together. Let it sit on warm for fifteen minutes or so while you put together your sides.
Serve it over mashed potatoes if you want to do it right. Egg noodles also work. My sister does it over white rice, which feels a little wrong to me but she’s happy with it, so.
Variations
I add sliced onion and garlic maybe half the time, depending on how much I feel like chopping at six in the morning. It adds depth. I also sometimes throw in a sliced apple — Honeycrisp or Fuji, whatever’s in the fruit Bowl — and it breaks down into the sauce and adds a sweetness that’s hard to describe but really good. My daughter does a version with caraway seeds that tastes very old-world-German, which she loves and I’ve come around to. If you like that sort of flavor, add a teaspoon or two.
You can also make this into a freezer meal: raw pork, sauerkraut, and apple juice in a gallon bag, sealed flat, in the freezer. Thaw it overnight, dump it in the cooker in the morning. Some weeks that’s the only reason dinner happens at all.
Leftovers
Up to four days in the fridge, in a sealed container. Reheat on the stove with a splash of water if it seems dry, though it usually doesn’t. On sandwiches, it’s better than it has any right to be. Toasted bun, melted Swiss or provolone, spoonful of the pork and sauerkraut straight from the container.
I always think I’m going to freeze the leftover portions in meal-prep bags and I almost never do. They’re gone before I get around to it, which is really the better outcome anyway.
One last thing — if you’re making this for New Year’s, that’s great, lean into the tradition. But don’t feel like you have to wait. There’s no reason a slow pork shoulder in January should be restricted to one day. Make it on a random Wednesday. That’s what I do now. My mother would probably agree, though honestly I haven’t asked her in a while, and she’d probably find a way to make it a whole thing.
Slow Cooker Pork and Sauerkraut
Ingredients Â
- 3 to 4 lb pork shoulder or pork butt
- 2 lb sauerkraut with juices
- 1 cup apple juice or apple cider
- salt and black pepper to taste
InstructionsÂ
- Lightly grease the slow cooker for easier cleanup.
- Add sauerkraut with its juices to the bottom and spread evenly.
- Pour apple juice over the sauerkraut.
- Pat pork dry, season with salt and pepper, and place on top of the sauerkraut.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8–10 hours until pork is tender and easily shredded.
- Remove pork, shred with forks, discard excess fat, then return to the slow cooker.
- Stir pork and sauerkraut together and let sit on WARM for 10–15 minutes before serving.
